Darkfallen
Darkfallen are a unique form of undead that can be encountered in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. Though little lore has been established, they appear to be undead high elves and/or blood elves. All characters explicitly identified as darkfallen are also currently tagged as members of the San'layn, though exactly how the groups relate to one another is uncertain. The only apparently darkfallen not tagged as San'layn are Prince Navarius in Zul'Drak, Prince Taldaram in Ahn'kahet, Dragonblight and Prince Sandoval in Icecrown. The only non-named darkfallen seen regularly in-game so far appear in the Temple City of En'kilah in northeastern Borean Tundra. At least two Darkfallen have demonstrated shape-shifting abilities. in the quest and Tenris Mirkblood when using his Blood Mirror ability. Elder Ko'nani of The Kalu'ak states that "The Dark One rides forth again with his San'layn..." showing that they are a major, or at least leading, part of the Scourge offensive. Depending on how the sentence is read, it may mean the San'layn were part of a previous attack of some kind. It seems that they are vampiric in nature, especially in the case of the Princes, who are known to consume the flesh, blood, and souls of their victims. Notable darkfallen See The San'layn. * - One of Prince Valanar's lieutenants. * - Took part in the ritual to raise Archmage Arugal. * - Overlord of Howling Fjord, ruler of the South-Easter reaches of Northrend and ambassador to the vrykul; also took part in the assault upon the Scarlet Enclave and the ritual to raise Arugal. * - Resides in Zul'drak. * - Resides in Icecrown Citadel and challenges fighters to battle at Valhalas. * - Boss in Ahn'kahet, presumably a leader of Scourge forces attempting to conquer Azjol-Nerub. * - Secluded himself within Karazhan during the Second Scourge Invasion. Removed in patch 3.0.3. * - Led the ritual to raise Arugal. * - Overlord of Borean Tundra and master of Naxxanar; also took part in the assault upon the Scarlet Enclave and the ritual to raise Arugal. * - One of Prince Valanar's lieutenants. Other darkfallen * - Retainer of Prince Valanar. * - Retainer of Prince Valanar. Possible Darkfallen * - in Spire of Blood, Temple City of En'kilah, Borean Tundra * - in Deatholme, Ghostlands Speculation Elven theory One theory is that they are high elves led by a host of renegade thalassian nobles known as Blood Lords. Another possibility is that they are Highborne Night Elves who were isolated in Northrend after the Sundering, who resorted to vampirism to surive, forming their own society, and upon the arrival of the Lich King to Northrend chose to side with him in exchange for power. Yet another theory is that they were members of the blood elf forces who accompanied Illidan in his attempt to destroy the Frozen Throne. Additionally, Thassarian refers to Prince Valanar as 'motherless elf scum', although this could just refer to the elflike appearance. Vampire inspiration The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King includes two pieces of concept art for the race; the first, titled "High Elf Nosferatu", is clearly inspired by Count Orlok from the classic German silent film Nosferatu, while the second depicts what appears to be a high elf with stitched-together flesh, dressed in elegant armor and wielding wing-like arrays of shields across his arms, which double as weapon racks, holding a number of blades. The darkfallen, specifically the Princes, appear to be strongly inspired by the portrayals of vampires in both film and fiction. They have bat-like ears, wear cloaks with high collars, and wear masks with fang patterns over their mouths Their vampiric nature, especially in the case of the Princes, who are known to consume the flesh, blood, and souls of their victims and display mannerisms and characteristics strongly associated with the classic vampires of film and fiction like Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula. Additional references have also been made to the Castlevania series of video games by Konami. External links Category:Darkfallen Category:Wrath of the Lich King